Intro

Hello, Balfour Scholars!

My name is Alex, and I'll be one of your facilitators this summer. Since you're approaching college, I want to tell you a bit about my own college experience, and then describe some of my interests today, as a writer and PhD candidate.

I started college not knowing what I wanted to study. I knew I liked thinking big thoughts, so I almost majored in philosophy, but I decided on English when I realized reading stories would be a much more fun way to learn about the world than reading dense philosophy texts. I did well in some classes, not so well in others. A turning point in my college career happened when I met with a professor to talk about doing the junior/senior honors program in English, where I would have to research and write a senior thesis. I was tempted, because I liked thinking hard about things, but it was also intimidating. The professor told me that sometimes the things you’re most scared of are the things that are most worth doing. She was right. It was a formative intellectual experience and set me on a course to pursuing a PhD many years later.

Now, after having taught high school English, and creative writing in prisons and on college campuses, I’m working on my dissertation in American Studies. I’m studying how we tell stories about the people and places who seem distant from us, geographically or socially, especially in the context of climate change. Sometimes this is about the other side of the globe, sometimes it’s about the other side of the street. Usually, these differences have to do with race, class, gender, and sexuality, and often the people telling the stories are the ones in power. I’m interested in what happens when the people who aren’t in power—people who’ve been excluded because of their race or gender or sexuality or age—tell their stories. How do underrepresented groups create political power for themselves? How might standing up for other perspectives help us figure out how to live better on this planet? How do our own lives connect with the challenges our world, whether climate, or refugees, or poverty in Bangladesh, Port-au-Prince, and Louisiana? These are global questions, but since we are all global citizens, we can think about them in our local communities, too.

I think it's going to be a great week of studying global struggle, telling stories, and learning from each other. Looking forward to meeting you all!